Fate Guidelines
Hi guys, this is Nullar's player, organizing a bit of info for my (and your) benefit! This will be mostly about basic FATE mechanics and how our experience with FATE will differ from most others due to our Homestuck setting. Feel free to do small edits in here (such as spelling, correcting stats, etc,) but try to let me know if big changes or overhauls are needed, as I'd like to keep this organized my way for my benefit. Building/Maintaining a Character Sheet Some parts of your character sheet are pretty self explanatory (like the name and description!) but others are a bit more in depth. All of us already have our sheets done but Milestones are a great time to improve or fine-tune aspects, skills, and stunts. High Concept, Trouble, And Aspects Your high concept should be two-four words, usually humorous in nature, that summarize your character pretty well. The wording should be fairly neutral, and a great high concept will be something that a) you can invoke for your benefit (trading in a fate point to do so) and b) your GM can compel, giving them an opportunity to give you a fate point. Don't forget, you can suggest compels to the GM, basically offering to screw over your character temporarily to gain a fate point! However, if what you suggest won't affect the narrative enough or offer a challenge, the GM has every right to say no or change the terms. Your trouble should be your character's biggest flaw. A great trouble will be one you can invoke as well. This should be something that will come up VERY often with regard to your character. Your aspects should be more neutral qualities that can be either good or bad. A great aspect is one that comes up often, like your trouble. When coming up with an aspect, try to think of three or four different situations you could use it to create an advantage, and three or four ways the GM could use it to make your situation worse. If you can't do this, you probably need a different trouble! That rule really applies to all of these, though. Skills Your skills will always make a pyramid. We started out with one +4, two +3s, 3 +4s, and 4 +1s. When deciding your skill tree you should keep two things in mind- * What skills does your character think are most worthwhile? * Which skills are they ACTUALLY good at? For example, your character wants to be a MMA fighter. Awesome! But, let's say he just does a lot of practicing at home alone watching Youtube videos for technique. His Computer skill could be a +4, but his strife skill might only be a +2. If your character has formal training in fencing, awesome! Strife +4, as long as they're using a similar weapon to strife. Your character spends day and night making art, cool! Crafts +4. However, if your character wants to be a long distance runner but has asthma, you should probably keep Athletics at a +1 maximum, no matter how much they practice or try. Any skill can be used to 'overcome'- that is, to bypass a difficult situation that requires that skill. These rolls will generally be prompted by the GM. Some skills can also be used to attack or defend, physically OR socially, or to create an advantage you can later invoke with the use of a fate point. Most skills can be used to Create Advantages- that is, to place a temporary or permanent aspect on a place, a person, or an item, that you may then 'invoke' later by using a fate point. An example would be using physique to put a boulder in the way of an entrance so people have a hard time getting in, or using your computer skill to hack someone's system that way it malfunctions on them at times you see fit. Skills used in this game with short explanations: Unique Skills: *Computers: This is a skill unique to our game. It's application is fairly self explanatory- it's used to control computers and, at higher levels, hack programs and computer systems. This skill is not often used to attack or defend in a physical or social setting, but can be used to create an advantage. Someone trying to defend against a hacking attempt can attempt to overcome with another Computers roll. An example of using Computers to 'overcome' an obstacle would be rolling to see if you are successful in putting a machine down while someone's entering. *Strife: Also unique to our game, this skill combines all forms of attack. As such, it is used almost entirely for attacking in a physical setting. To defend against a strife roll, one must roll Athletics to dodge. It is rare to use Strife to overcome, but a good example of this would be using your weapon to do a demonstration or show off. Trying to intimidate another person by using your weapon prowess may require both a strife AND trolling roll, though, so be careful! *Trolling: The last of our unique skills, trolling includes all forms of provocation and intimidation. This skill is used to attack in a social setting, and also to create advantages. To defend against a trolling attempt, one must use Will. An example of using Trolling to overcome would be directing it against an NPC to scare or shame him into not protecting a valuable treasure. Close but different skill pairs: *Physique: Physique has to do with how physically strong your character is. This is like STR in a D&D setting. It is not used to attack or defend, but it can be used to overcome heavy or stubborn obstacles. *Athletics: Athletics has to do with how quick/accurate/graceful your character is. This is like DEX in a D&D setting. It is not used to attack, but it can be used to defend against physical attacks (by dodging, etc) and to overcome difficulties in movement such as climbing, swimming, or walking on rough or slippery ground. *Investigate: Investigate is used when you're following a trail or searching specifics of a location. Investigation requires effort and the ability to analyze information. Investigate is a very useful tool for creating advantages- you can determine a situation or character's aspects, interpret a map, find out if information you've been given is truthful. It is not used to attack or defend. *Notice: Notice is used when you're trying to pick up on something that's happening 'right now' or to locate something that's right out in the open. It has to do with one's natural powers of observation and ability to quickly pick up on small details. Notice can be used to defend against stealth rolls, or to create advantages placing or discovering a situation's aspect- such as 'high ground' or 'easy concealed exit'. *Rapport: Rapport is your ability to create and maintain social connections with people. The higher your rapport, the more likely people are to like you. You can use rapport to overcome in any situation where a person liking you would make things easier on you- say, you need a guard to move from his location, or you'd like to inspire your friends to take a certain action. It's not used to attack but it can be used to defend against attacks on your character's reputation. Social attacks meant to cause mental stress must be defended with Will however. *Empathy: Your character's empathy skill level correlates to how well they can pick up another person's mood or behavior. It is the social equivalent to notice, basically! You can use empathy to defend against deceive attacks or to create an advantage by either placing a new temporary aspect on a character or discovering currently existing ones. Other Skills: *Will: Will is used to defend against all mental stress attacks. It relates to your ability to buckle down and overcome distractions. It's used to solve puzzles and power certain psionic abilities. *Lore: Lore is a character's 'book smarts', and their ability to discern and pick up new information. Certain characters use it to power up their magic, but other than that it is not used to attack or defend. It is used often to create advantages and overcome obstacles, however, especially in cases where a small bit of knowledge makes a huge difference. With the correct stunts, it can be used to heal and in this game specifically it is a great aid in alchemization and figuring out the usage of other game constructs. *Stealth: Stealth is used to be sneaky! You can use it to place aspects on yourself that make it hard for other characters to see you or hit you with an attack. You can use stealth rolls to defend against Notice and Investigate attempts to pin down your exact location- and you can even use it to throw an investigator off your trail completely. *Burglary: Burglary covers the obvious- theft- but also includes your ability to get into places that are locked or otherwise off-limits. You can also use the skill to determine how something was stolen or broken into previously, or how difficult it would be to steal or break into something in the future. *Crafts: Crafts in FATE refers most commonly to one's ability to create and maintain machinery such as robots, cars, etc. In this game, however, it includes one's ability to make art, gadgets, traps, and even garden. You can use it to create advantages or overcome difficulties with broken equipment. You only use it to attack when using a machine to do so. *Deceive: This is one's ability to lie. You can use it to sway another character's behavior. You can defend against some Investigate and Empathy rolls by giving off misinformation. It is not used to attack, but can be used to create advantages and place temporary aspects on yourself and others. Uncommonly Used Skills: *Resources: Resources are a character's wealth. Since we're moving to an entirely new planet with entirely new types of money, old conventional resources are not of much use. However, a character who is rich pre game will have more items to break down into grist should they choose. Resources can be used to bribe or flatter, and are used to make useful items. *Contacts: Contacts relates to how many people you know, and how good you are at getting to know people. You can use contacts to get information, to keep tabs on people, to find the best locations/people for your needs, to find targets for burglary, etc. *Drive: Drive is your ability to pilot, drive, or otherwise move around mobile contraptions. Since most of our characters are way underage at the start of this game, it is unlikely anyone will have this trained. This is also used, however, for riding horses so anyone with experience doing that might have a point or two in this skill. Stunts Think of stunts as your character's 'special moves'. Stunts allow you to supplement skills or use skills in ways that otherwise would not be possible. A good stunt is one that is useful in many situations your character is likely to come across! However, stunts should be limited in power. The more often your character can use it, the weaker the stunt should be. Figure out what you'd like the character to be able to do, then limit it (or not) depending on just how game changing the ability is.